International experience indicates that energy labelling programmes are rapidly evolving as a valuable tool for energy efficiency awareness and practice in the built environment. Four years after the launch of the South African labelling programme, Green Buildings for Africa (GBfA), it became evident that implementation was not successful. This study evaluates the contribution of a range of factors towards the sustained implementation and uptake of energy labelling programmes for commercial buildings based on a comparative appraisal of relevant international case studies and the GBfA. The analytical process is based on three types of energy labelling categories (mandatory energy audit, voluntary energy audit and voluntary benchmarking scheme) and two categories of factors (contextual and programme-specific). The key finding is that government involvement and support is critical, if not a prerequisite, for successful roll-out of an energy labelling programme. Key recommendation is that a local programme be initially based on a voluntary benchmark programme approach.